


One of Us

by DameGreyWulf



Category: The Lion King (1994)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 16:11:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17531975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DameGreyWulf/pseuds/DameGreyWulf
Summary: Kovu's mind is filled with thoughts of Kiara, but his siblings make sure he isn't distracted by a pretty face. He learns what it really means to be chosen as the future king, what's at stake for the Outlanders.





	One of Us

“All right Kovu, what’s wrong?”

“What do you mean? You always win anyway, Vitani.”

“Oh, I know, but you don’t lose this hard. Not usually, anyway.”

Kovu looked at his forepaws in silent thought. Vitani could probably tell fortunes from fights, he wondered absentmindedly.

 

“Maybe the precious king-to-be is finally showing his true colours,” came a hiss from not too far.

“Shut up, Nuka!” Vitani snarled over her shoulder before returning to Kovu. “So spit it out already.” She sat decisively, her piercing eyes boring into Kovu’s soul.

 

“I dunno…” he started slowly. What he was thinking was heresy, but he couldn’t let it go. “You ever wonder… if maybe… Pridelanders, uh, aren’t so bad?” his voice almost became a squeak, and he braced for impact.

 

“Are you KIDDING me!?” yowled Vitani, but she was nearly bowled over by Nuka, who ran up in such fury that he kicked up quite a dust cloud, and his chest was heaving.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?” he shrieked. “WHAT IN THE KINGS’ NAMES DID YOU SAY, _YOU LITTLE_ **_TERMITE_**!?”

“I-I just thought…” Kovu stuttered in alarm. He knew dissent wasn’t well-met, but the adolescent lion’s pure hatred looming over him was far more than he bargained for.

 

“DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!? DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY’VE DONE!? OR ARE YOU JUST FORGETTING, HUH?? BECAUSE IT’S SO EASY FOR YOU, ISN’T IT!?” Nuka’s pubescent voice cracked and squealed at random as he shouted in rage, making the experience all the more unpleasant for the young cub.

 

“YOU didn’t know! YOU were just born!” he continued, pacing in agitation, “They’re TYRANTS! They KILLED Scar, they KILLED our king, our leader, our  _ father _ !! And then, ohoho, that wasn’t enough for them, no, no, they BANISHED us! Banished us for disagreeing, for protesting Scar’s murder!! They’re total tyrants, and got the whole damn world under their claws!!”

He stopped, glaring down at Kovu, “And they have the GALL to act all high and mighty, to act like we’re SCUM, and they’re just PERFECT, because they’re clean, and pretty, and fat, convincing everyone that WE are the dirty, nasty traitors, and YOU FELL FOR IT!!” he ended with a scream, a hoarse attempt at a roar, “I can’t believe YOU, of all lions, the wonderful little present that Scar just HAPPENED UPON, the future king WE’RE supposed to believe will finally bring us JUSTICE, got all STUPID over… over… some little… Pridelander girly!! UNBELIEVABLE!”

 

He started to walk away, not even bothering to wait for a response from his brother, or sister; far too angry to even cope with conversation with other lions. Behind him he left a trail of expletives and curses towards Kovu, making sure to pinpoint the cub’s inadequacy for leadership and that he would never be one of them; would never be his brother, let alone his king. The two watched him leave, Kovu slumped in misery. He looked at the back of Vitani’s ears for some sort of sarcastic rebuttal he could lean on for support, but she remained stony and quiet.

 

“Vitani…?” he ventured.

He thought she was ignoring him, but finally, she spoke. “As much as I hate to say it, he’s right. Even if he’s being an obnoxious hyena-brain.”

“W-well… He does have termites… And fleas… (And probably ticks)…” Kovu tried to joke, trailing off as the mood remained heavy.

“We ALL have those,” she turned to face him again, “Well, _ I  _ don’t have ticks. Anyway, that’s not it. It’s like Nuka said, you and me, we’re too young to remember Scar, but he isn’t. For once, he’s got a real reason to act like an idiot…” 

 

She passed him. “We’d better get going home,” she said grimly. He stood and followed. After a bit of time in silence, she spoke again, “Kovu, you need to understand. It’s true, Pridelanders are tyrants. So you’re our hope. We need you. More importantly…”

Vitani stopped and looked behind at Kovu, deadly serious, “It’s not just about kings. Not for us. It’s way more than that…” she turned back ahead of them, their home in view, “For us… It’s personal. Remember that, instead of some pampered princess’s lies.”

 

Kovu didn’t follow immediately when she continued on. He was thinking again. This was what Nuka meant, when he taunted Kovu, saying he wasn’t one of them. “But I  _ am _ …” he said quietly to himself, "and Scar  _ is _ my father…” 

 

He took a deep breath, and moved forward. He had found new resolve. "I  _ will _ become king.

For us.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I just thought this up one day in full.
> 
> Basically, I was thinking about, how do the cubs feel? The cubs of the Outlanders. They've been through a lot. We don't know much about those older than Nuka who are now adults. We do see that Nuka is very complicated as a character, with significant parental issues. Vitani is mature beyond her years and grim and sardonic. Kovu seems caught up in the between of being a bit spoiled yet having many expectations piled on him at a very young age, not sure how he feels about anything.
> 
> We do see later that Kovu was taught many erroneous things about Scar as a leader, a father, and in general, so I think it suits that there's quite a bit of distorted perceptions and misleading, and, on Zira's part, brainwashing, likely because of her hyper obsession with Scar.
> 
> So basically, here's my idea of what the continued conversation about Kiara and how Kovu became inspired to carry out his appointed destiny.
> 
> I have not seen any of The Lion Guard and thus this is not applicable to nor influenced by any canon it may have introduced.


End file.
